Resurrecting the Melbourne Sandbelt, Part V (Royal Melbourne West) (w/pictures)

[Benjamin Litman]

After two days of glorious golf at Barnbougle (I will be posting reviews/photo tours of both Barnbougle courses soon), we arrived in Melbourne hungry for more, but dubious as to whether anything could surpass the otherworldly experience--replete with surviving what locals called the worst weather in Tasmanian history--we had just had. My doubts were quickly put to rest, as my very first morning on the mainland came with the treat of all treats: a round with a member, who quickly became and remains a very good friend, at the famed West Course at Royal Melbourne Golf Club, beneath a clear blue sky. As I mentioned in my review of the East Course, the club takes its place in the game seriously, and that showed immediately when we made our way to the driving range. All around us were hordes of junior golfers, who were spending the day at the club to practice and play. Even if this was just another example of Australia's well-documented (and envied) government-backed athletics programs, it was refreshing to see it play out at a course of such stature as Royal Melbourne. I know Augusta National has done much for the game and its future, especially with its recent initiatives (amateur championships abroad and the drive, chip, and putt championship onsite), but I wonder why other prominent courses in America don't do what Royal Melbourne appears to do on a regular basis. It was refreshing to see, and a great way to start the day.

Royal Melbourne Golf Club (West Course)

The West Course itself, which I happened to play well with the exception of a few holes, is beautiful, playable, and strategic. Perhaps its greatest strategic merit is that its playability lulls the better player into thinking he can be aggressive, only to have him realize quickly that aggression bites hard at Royal Melbourne. As many have said before, the use of trees at Royal Melbourne (as at most of the Sandbelt courses) is brilliant: There are many of them, and they serve the purpose of visually framing/defining playing corridors (and blocking out signs of civilization beyond a course's borders), but they don't come into play. And what playing corridors they are--grand, sweeping, open yet defined. Strolling the fairways, the golfer gets the feeling of walking through a grand, endless museum (think "Russian Ark") with the roof off.

There are world-class holes aplenty (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11, 16, 17, 18), and the ones that don't make that list are still very good (with the uphill par-4 9th, the rolling par-5 12th, and the gentle dogleg-right short par-4 14th being particularly underrated in my opinion). The first hole, which is probably among the four "worst" holes on the course, was likely designed as a comfortable rhythm-building starter; though long, its incredibly wide fairway and relatively flat, defenseless green gets the round underway in a carefree manner. Good thing, too, because the next six holes comprise the longest sustained stretch of brilliance--replete with two world-class par-5s (2 and 4), two world-class par-4s (3 and 6), and two world-class par-3s (5 and 7), with each pair playing very differently--I have come across on a course to date. After a hole-and-half respite (all of 8 and the tee shot on 9), things ratchet up again with the difficult uphill approach to 9 green and the all-world short uphill 10th. Eleven and 12 keep things going, but as you can see from the above enumeration of world-class holes, the middle of the back nine is the weakest stretch on the course. Thankfully, starting with the flat, yet stunning, par-3 16th (on the heels of the course's weakest hole, the straightaway par-4 15th with housing down the left), the course reclaims its grandeur and finishes with a bang. The tee shot on 17 is somewhat dull, but what a second shot (downhill to the left), and what a green complex (bunkers only on the right side). The 18th, as I mentioned in my review of the East course, is architecturally a better closer than the East's 18th, but the view of the driving range to the left, and the absence of a clubhouse view, makes it seem slightly less momentous. Still, the tee shot (over a hill guarded by bunkers, sloping hard left but curving hard right) and approach shot (downhill to a wide and shallow well-bunkered green) marry what is best about the West course. Everyone should try to experience Royal Melbourne (preferably both courses) at some point in life.  

Again, because I played the West Course with a member, I did not spend as much time as I usually do taking pictures. This will be more of a mini-tour, then, but I hope you enjoy it regardless.

Royal Melbourne (West), Hole 1 (green, looking backward from the East's 18th tee; the 1st fairway is to the right, the 2nd hole is in the middle, and the 4th hole is to the left)


Royal Melbourne (West), Hole 2 (fairway) [N.B.: The green complex, which has a false front/ridge, looks and plays a lot like the green complex at Kingston Heath's 7th, also a par-5.]


Royal Melbourne (West), Hole 2 (green, left greenside bunker; note the green's false front (darker shade of green) on the right)


Royal Melbourne (West), Hole 4 (tee)


Royal Melbourne (West), Hole 4 (center fairway bunker at top of hill)


Royal Melbourne (West), Hole 4 (fairway, past the center fairway bunker/top of the hill)


Royal Melbourne (West), Hole 5 (tee)


Royal Melbourne (West), Hole 5 (tee, four days later while I was playing the East course and without backlighting)


Royal Melbourne (West), Hole 6 (fairway, after the sharp dogleg right)


Royal Melbourne (West), Hole 10 (tee) [N.B.: This short par-4--where driving the green (over the bunker) is tempting, but ultimately foolish--has to be in the conversation, together with the long 6th, of the best par-4 in the world.]


Royal Melbourne (West), Hole 11 (fairway)


Royal Melbourne (West), Hole 11 (fairway, looking backward, with 11 fairway right, 17 fairway/green left, and fairway bunkers on 18 in the distance on the left) [N.B.: These at once wide-open and defined playing corridors are, perhaps more than the bunkers or the elevation changes, the dominant feature of Royal Melbourne.]


Royal Melbourne (West), Hole 11 (green, looking backward again, with 11 fairway right and 17 fairway left)


Royal Melbourne (West), Hole 13 (green) [N.B.: When this is the "worst" par-3, you know you're playing an amazing golf course.]


Royal Melbourne (West), Hole 17 (left fairway bunker, with green in the distance on the left; the 11th fairway is to the right)


Royal Melbourne (West), Hole 18 (tee) [N.B.: A brilliant design marries a hard right-to-left tilt in the fairway with a hard left-to-right curve.]

[jonathan_becker]

Royal Melbourne (West), Hole 4 (fairway, past the center fairway bunker/top of the hill)



Benjamin, thanks for the photos....RMW is truly one of the world's greatest courses.

You did mention the color around the collars and fringes (the planted fescue) that seemed, to me, to highlight the lurking troubles around the greensites....but I played course with a lot more heat on the grass so it made for a different color presentation.  Interesting though is how consistently green the turf looks in your shots given the fact that you played the course during winter.  Better or worse, that doesn't matter as it's only an observation, but it does strike me as odd because these shots don't look like winter at all!

Here's a similar shot of mine to your above shot of coming around the bend on #4.  Different colors and depths adding to the great landscape and huge scale of the holes.

[Benjamin Litman]

Thanks, Jonathan. I, too, was shocked at the condition of not just Royal Melbourne, but of all the Sandbelt courses we played. If that's "winter" golf in Australia, sign me up, please. The weather was perfect for golf, too: clear, minimal wind, with temperatures in the mid-60s. I suppose the brownness more apparent in your pictures is due to the scorching heat that accompanies the Australian summer. Mike Clayton's recently tweeted pictures of the course (as it prepares to host next week's Women's Australian Open) confirm as much.

I'm now trying to imagine the courses in even firmer and faster conditions than I found them (though they were greener when I played them, I didn't find them to be slow). As I've noted elsewhere, I love brown on golf courses not just for playability but also for visual depth and layering. I guess I'll have to plan a return trip one of these years.

[jonathan_becker]

Benjamin,

Here's one more to show a little bit of that different flavor....turned around on #8 looking back up #9

And as for going back....of course!  We can't not see Cape Wickham!

[Benjamin Litman]

That's a beautiful picture, Jonathan. I think the 9th hole is very underrated, probably because it gets grouped, given its physical proximity, with the 8th. Yes, I've heard magical things about Cape Wickham, which conveniently is scheduled to open at the end of this year--i.e., in the middle of the Australian summer, when brown will be aplenty.

[Michael Wharton-Palmer]

Again marvelous photographs.
Then from what you have said golf in he fall, when I am there should be marvelous. Cape Wickham included so I will provide input on the course .
Thanks again , this only intensifies my anticipation.

[Benjamin Litman]

Thanks, Michael, and very jealous you'll get to play Cape Wickham, which appears much harder to access than Barnbougle, which is not really as remote (at least in terms of access) as everyone makes it out to be. Please do provide feedback; thanks in advance.

Regarding seasons, I think the upshot is that, as advertised, the conditions on the Sandbelt are pure all year round. Remind me why I live in New York?

[Steve Lapper]

Benjamin,

   Nice pix of what is hands down my favorite course on Planet Earth!

   What other course so consistently demands a brilliantly subjective mix of aerial and ground game shots and remains challenging and enjoyable by EVERY level of golfer!

Cheers,

S

[jonathan_becker]

MWP,

At RMW, the greens, the land, the scale of the holes, etc....that all gets a lot of press and it's all well deserved.  An underrated aspect though, imo, are the rewards offered by the risks in challenging the fairway bunkers off the tees.  Not every fw bunker is placed perfectly on every course, but on the whole, RMW does it extremely well.  Taking lines inside of the bunkers or just flat out challenging them by trying to go over will give you a much shorter shot and clearer look at what's left on the approach.  #6 is the poster hole for me in this regard and it's multiple available lines and possible strategies are incredible.  

[Benjamin Litman]

Thanks, Steve, for the kind words. It is true that Royal Melbourne's variety really stands out. As I noted, of the pairs of par-3s, par-4s, and par-5s that comprise that amazing stretch of holes from 2-7, each pair is itself comprised of two very different holes (although the two par-5s, 2 and 4, are both doglegs to the right, the land on which they rest makes for very different holes).

And, Jonathan, you make a very good point about fairway bunkers, although I wouldn't put 6 in that category necessarily (only because you don't really see the bunkers from the tee--you know there is "junk" on the corner of the dogleg, but, to me at least, it's not apparent what that junk is). The ones that really come to mind are 2, 4, 12, 17, and 18. Again, 6, from a design standpoint, fits the bill, but not from a visual standpoint, which is what I think you're getting at. I debated whether to include 10, but I consider the big bunker at the top-left of the hill to be more a fairway/greenside bunker than a pure fairway bunker, but it, too, offers similar risks/rewards.

[RJ_Daley]

It is so fascinating to see the seasonal contrast of the patina of the golf course between Jonathan's and Benjamin's photos.  I only played the east course, but had a grand tour of the west, and I simply gasped to catch my breath upon coming to the tee and passing by the green on the 5th.  I  am of the opinion that a 5th world major should be played in Oct-Nov time frame at RM composite.  We should have he annual Spring tradition at the Masters, the annual Open of the world at the British, and the annual down under (as Australia has always been a key component to the history of GCA and producing world class players).   

The only thing about that 5th Major concept I would worry about is that the same fear of the pros going too low would cause a movement to alter the playing presentation and toughening up with trickeration like was done at ANGC to "Tigerproof" it and lengthen it in the face of technology of distance.  The uproar was sounded by folks like Geoff Shackelford in the 90s when ANGC embarked on their roughening, lengthening and tree planting program.   Of course such measure should be 'utterly cryit doon' at RM. 

So, what do you all make of the seeming handshake or embrace of ANGC officials with RM at the recent Asia-Pacific Am?  Was it just a matter of the R&A and other world golf organizations there to support the global nature of that tournament, or something more?

[Michael Wharton-Palmer]

Slightly off line here and more of a question from my wife.
I lived in the Southern hemisphere in my youth , but before are care for fashion and etiquette,
But.....does one wear pastels at Easter in the Southern hemisphere even though it is autumn?

Interesting huh....

[Andrew Bertram]

is your wife joining you in Melbourne?

[Michael Wharton-Palmer]

Indeed she is, she is looking forward to seeing the courses nearly as much as me, she has turned into a real architecture buff

[Tom_Doak]

It is so fascinating to see the seasonal contrast of the patina of the golf course between Jonathan's and Benjamin's photos.  I only played the east course, but had a grand tour of the west, and I simply gasped to catch my breath upon coming to the tee and passing by the green on the 5th.  I  am of the opinion that a 5th world major should be played in Oct-Nov time frame at RM composite.  We should have he annual Spring tradition at the Masters, the annual Open of the world at the British, and the annual down under (as Australia has always been a key component to the history of GCA and producing world class players).   

The only thing about that 5th Major concept I would worry about is that the same fear of the pros going too low would cause a movement to alter the playing presentation and toughening up with trickeration like was done at ANGC to "Tigerproof" it and lengthen it in the face of technology of distance.  The uproar was sounded by folks like Geoff Shackelford in the 90s when ANGC embarked on their roughening, lengthening and tree planting program.   Of course such measure should be 'utterly cryit doon' at RM. 

So, what do you all make of the seeming handshake or embrace of ANGC officials with RM at the recent Asia-Pacific Am?  Was it just a matter of the R&A and other world golf organizations there to support the global nature of that tournament, or something more?

RJ: 

Not sure what your last paragraph means, exactly, but everyone has embraced the fellows from The Masters in recent years because they are bankrolling these events with some of the spare proceeds from their own Tournament.

As to your fears about Royal Melbourne, the good / bad news is that the club doesn't have much spare room to add length for tournament play ... for example the West 12th tee is backed up against the property fence on one side, and the green is about 15 yards short of the road at the far end.  In fact, they are losing ground as the liability issues at the boundaries have started to close in on 17 East.

[C. Sturges]

Benjamin and Jonathan,

Thanks for posting your pictures and bringing back great memories of an amazing place!  The only way it could be better for me would be having a pasty from the Black Rock Bakery as I view this thread.  It is also very cool seeing the greens green.  I played there before they closed the course to re-grass it for the President's Cup.  I had never seen or played on black greens, or for that matter greens that looked as bad as they did and roll perfect.  It was mind boggling how good they rolled.  I wish I had pictures to post, but my camera broke during the trip and I lost all my pictures.  Truly one of the best courses in the world!
chris